Last week, I bought a Canon 7D to replace my Canon 40Ds. I've been using XXD Canon bodies for almost 7 years and they have always served me well in both my work as a dog show photographer/pet portraitist and in my hobby photography of wildlife and landscapes and anything else I find that is interesting. But, I used a 7D at the 2010 Rottweiler National Specialty and, afterwards, in my travels across the state of Colorado and I realized it was a lot more camera with a lot more capabilities than my 40Ds. So, I finally decided to pull the trigger.
When the camera arrived, I ran it through some basic tests to make sure it was working OK and was very happy with the camera's overall condition. Today, I finally had the time and the opportunity to go out and actually test all (well, most) of the capabilities of this camera. Mostly, I wanted to check out the major differences in the focusing system of the 7D vs the 40D because it is a much more sophisticated system with lots more options and I wanted to learn what to use in different situations. So, I took the camera and my trusty Canon EF 200mm F2.8L off to my favorite place in Orlando: the Shingle Creek Nature Trail.
I've spent a lot of time walking that trail either alone with my camera or with the dogs, usually Rowdy when he was with us. I'm familiar with what wildlife is there this time of year and where it usually is hiding out. So, with the abundance of flora and fauna available in Florida in November, I figured that was an ideal place to test out the 7D in earnest.
First item to test was auto-ISO. The 40D had it but I seldom used it. It was one of the earliest iterations of that functionality. The 7D's auto-ISO is much more sophisticated and virtually transparent. So, shooting RAW, I put the camera on auto-ISO and started my hike. First item was just a pretty flower along the boardwalk at the start of the trail. The camera gave me 1/320s f/2.8 at 200.0mm iso100 and here's the image.
Next, I dialed in All Focus Points for a landscape shot of the Creek itself with its primordial Spanish Moss.
I was hoping to find some River Otters active at that time of the day but I rather doubted I'd find any. On the way up the trail, I spied another warm-blooded creature hiding behind some tree limbs and that allowed me to test out the Single Point Spot Focusing capability that lets you dial in a very small subject in the midst of lots of clutter.
When I got to where the trail comes out of the woods to a clearing, I found a Little Blue Heron standing on the rail of the bridge I had to cross. The bird must have seen me before because he just stood there until I was no more than 20 feet away and let me take his portrait.
Once in the clearing, the wetlands that feed the creek move off to the West and that's where most of the wading birds tend to hang out. I was watching two Wood Storks in a tree nearby when suddenly, two Great Blue Herons took flight just to my left. I had the camera set for AI Servo, Hi Speed Burst and central focus area but had no idea what I'd get. Here's the first capture of the first bird.
And here's the capture of the second bird as he flew over almost directly above me.
Later, on my way back to the car, I spotted my Little Blue Heron friend again and grabbed another quick shot.
And, finally, just before I got back to the car, I shot this seed pod using a larger single focus point for broader coverage.
I'm not suggesting that I had the opportunity to test all the features or settings of the camera but I did have a chance to test it on a wide variety of lighting and some action shots so I'm comfortable saying that the camera offers a lot of capabilities. The only limiting factor would appear to be the guy handling it
. I'll work on getting more practice.
Jim
